Saying one thing but meaning the opposite

Benjamin Zimmer bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU
Wed Nov 12 17:25:28 UTC 2008


On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 12:19 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu> wrote:
>
> Btw, what about humorously calling a tall, powerful man "Tiny"?

Ooh! Antiphrasis.

E.g.: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0502A&L=ADS-L&P=R8497


--Ben Zimmer

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